One Leaf a Day Challenge -- #1

Fall has been happening for weeks now but I am finally getting around to acknowledging the fact.  I want to celebrate the fabulous colors of the season by drawing or painting one leaf a day for the next ten days! As far as leaf-peeping goes, some years are more colorful than others and this year we are having a more muted show.  I love it just the same.  All those yummy, earthy tones all mixed together in subtle ways.  It reminds me of our years in Japan, where fall color is refined and understated, much like her people.

We live in a forest here in Charlottesville, so this time of year is especially beautiful as each deciduous tree changes color day by day.  Just outside our kitchen window is a stand of dogwood trees.  They are among the first trees to turn.  Never brilliant, never showy, but always a gorgeously rich shade of burgundy.  I never knew this until I started paying close attention, but the leaves that turn first are the ones most exposed to sunlight.  This makes sense -- they'd be the first to have their summer pigment supply used up as they catch the last rays of sunshine.  Or something to that effect.  I sort of forget my biology.  With the dogwood, the shaded leaves get "suntan lines" from the leaves above them.  Wherever they remain shaded, the leaf is perfectly green, and where they see a bit of sun they "tan", beginning their color transformation.   So you get leaves like the one above, with areas of intense green and darker reds, all on the same leaf.  Eventually, however, all of the leaves fade to a uniform burgundy, before drying up entirely and dropping to the ground.

I drew this with colored pencils on double-frosted mylar.  The smooth surface of the mylar is wonderful to draw on -- it accepts layers of color very nicely and the pencil just slides right along.  But the best thing is, you can erase it if you make a mistake!  Colored pencil on paper doesn't behave nearly as well.  Enjoy!